The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-06-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Growing Evil Of Immoral Lit
erature Depleted


Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage has joined the
crusade against immoral literature, and
on recent Sabbath delivered ser mon
on the subject, taking for his text:
Many OF them. also, which used curious arts
brought their books together, and burned them
before all men; and they counted the price OF
them. and found it fifty thousand pieces OF
silver Acts, xix. 10.
Paul had been stirring up Ephesus with
some lively sermons about the sins of
that place. Among the most important
results was the fact that the citizens
brought out their bad books and in a pub
lie place made q bonfire OF them. see
the people coming out with their arms
full of Ephesian literature, and tossing 1t
into the flames. I hear an economist
standing by and saying:
ssStop this waste Here are s., 500 worth
of books-do you propose to burn them
all upi II you don't want to read them
yourself sell them and let somebody else
read them"
'.No," said the people, ''if these books
are not good for US they are not good for
anybody else, and we shall stand and
watch until the last leaf has turned to
ashes. They have done us world Of
harm, and they shall never do others
harms
Hear the flames crackle and roar.
Well, my friends, one of the wants Of
the cities Of this country is great bonfire
Of bad books and newspapers. We have
enough fuel to make q blaze two hundred
feet high. Many Of the publishing houses
would do well to throw into the blaze
their entire stock Of goods. Bring forth
the insufferable trash and put it into the
fire, and let it be known in the presence Of
God, and angels. and men, that you are
going to rid your homes Of the overtop-
ping and underlying curse Of profigate
literature.
The printing press 10 the mightiest
agency ON earth for good and for evil.
The minister Of the Gospel, standing in
pulpit, has responsible position; but /
do not think it is as responsible as the po-
sition Of an editor or publisher. At what
distant point Of time, at what far-out
cycle of eternity, will cease the influence
of Henry ]. Raymond. or Horace
Greeley, or q James Gordon Bennett, or a
Watson Webb, or an Erastus Brooks, or q
Thomas Kinsellai Take the simple
statistic that our New York
dailies now have q. circulation of
about LOCO per day, and add to it the
fact that three OF our weekly periodicals
have an aggregate circulation of about
100000, and then cipher, if you can, how
far up, and how far down, and how Tar
out, reach the influences Of the American
printing-press.
Great Godl What is to be the issue Of
all thisi l believe the Lord intends the
printing press to be the chief means for
the worlds rescue and evangelization,
and / think that the great last battle OF
the world will not be fought with swords
and guns, but with types and presses-a
purified and gospel literature triumphing
over, trampling down and crushing out
for ever that which Is depraved. The
only way to overcome unclean literature
is by scattering abroad that which is
healthful May God speed the cylinders
OF an honest, intelligent, aggressive,
Christian printing press.
have to tell you this morning that the
greatest blessing that ever came to this
Nation is that of an elevated literature,
and the greatest scourge has been that of
unclean literature. This last has its vic
Tins in all occupations and departments.
It has helped to fill insane asylums and
penitentiaries and almshouses and dens of
shame. The bodies Of this infection lie in
the hospitals and in the graves, while
their souls are being tossed over into a
lost eternity, an avalanche Of horror and
despair.
The London plague was nothing to it.
That counted It's victims by thousands,
but this modern pest has already shoveled
8 its millions into the CLEARINGHOUSE Of the
morally dead. The longest rail train that
ever ran over the Erie or Hudson tracks
was not long enough nor large enough te
carry the beastliness and the putrefaction
which have been gathered up in bad
books and newspapers Of this land in the
last twenty years.
Now, it IS amid such circumstances that
put, this morning, question of over.
mastering Importance to you and your
families. What books and newspapers
shall we reada You see Igroup them to
gether. A newspaper is only book in q
swifter and more portable shape, and the
same rules which will apply to book read
ing will apply to newspaper reading
What shall we reada Shall our minds be
the receptacle for everything that ar
author has mind to writes Shall there
be no distinction between the tree of life
and the tree Of DEATH Shall we stooI
down and drink out of the trough which
the wickedness Of men has filled with
pollution and shamel Shall we mire II
impurity and chase fantastic willo'-the
wisps across the swamps, when we might
walk in the blooming gardens of Goda @
moi For the sake of our present aud ever.
lasting welfare we must make an intelli
gent and Christian choice.
Standing. as we do, chin deep in ficti
tious literature, the first question tina
many Of the young people are asking m,
is: ssShall we read novelsgn / reply
There are novels that are pure, good
Christian, elevating to the heart and en-
nobling to the life. But have still fur
thor to say that / believe that ninety-nin,
out Of the hundred novels in this day ar,
baIefuland destructive to the last degree
A pure work Of fiction is history and poet
ry combined. It is q history Of thing
around as, with the licenses and the as
sumed names Of poetry. The world car
never pay the debt which it owes to sucf
fictitious writer's as Hawthorne and Nc
Kenzie, and Landor and Hunt, and Arthur
and Marion Harland, and others whose
names are familiar to all. The follies Of
high life were never better exposed tina,
by Miss Edgeworth. The memories Of tn,
past were never more faithfully embalm
cd than in the writings Of Walter Scott
Cooperss novels are healthfuily red
olent with the breath Of the sea
nv4sa &h~ AZ -